Director Roman Polanski goes on trial for defamation

A court in Paris was due to begin hearing a defamation lawsuit against the veteran film director, Roman Polanski, on Tuesday.

A British actress, Charlotte Lewis, brought the case against the 90-year-old Franco-Polish filmmaker.

He told Paris Match magazine, in 2019, that she lied about being sexually assaulted by him four decades ago.

Mr Polanski fled the United States in 1978 after admitting having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl.

Several other women have since come forward with claims that Mr Polanski abused them. He denies all claims against him.

Mr Polanski, who resides in Paris, will not attend the trial, and will be represented by his legal team, his lawyers said.

Ms Lewis, who lives in the UK, was expected to be present.

Ms Lewis told French newspaper Le Parisien she had filed the case four years ago, and while it had been a "long and traumatic" process, she was ready for the trial.

In 2010, Ms Lewis accused the director of assaulting her in "the worst possible way" when she was 16 in 1983 in Paris, after she had travelled there for a casting. She later appeared in his 1986 film Pirates.

In a 2019 interview with the Paris Match magazine, the France-born filmmaker claimed it was a "heinous lie".

Paris Match reported that during the interview he allegedly read from a 1999 article in the now-defunct British tabloid newspaper News of the World, which quoted Lewis as saying: "I was fascinated by him, and I wanted to be his lover."

Ms Lewis has said the quotes attributed to her in that interview were not accurate.

She filed a complaint for defamation, and the film director was automatically charged under French law.

Mr Polanski, known for films including Chinatown, The Pianist, and Rosemary's Baby, has faced controversy for decades since fleeing the United States.

He has French and Polish citizenship, and has evaded various extradition attempts by US authorities.